Chat now or Regret

Stuck in a dull lab? Create a room and chat in real time — messages auto-expire so conversations stay fresh.

Chat now or Regret — real-time ephemeral group chat: create or join rooms, message live with typing indicators, and auto-expire conversations.

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React + Vite
• Realtime client: socket.io-client
• Styling: CSS
• Backend: Node.js + Express
• Realtime server: socket.io
• Database: MongoDB (Mongoose) with TTL indexes for auto-expiry
• Deployment: Frontend on Vercel, Backend on Render/Fly/Railway (Dockerfile included)

Quick start (local)

1. Backend

cd backend
cp .env.example .env   # or create .env with MONGO_URI and PORT
npm install
npm run dev

2. Frontend

cd frontend
cp .env.example .env   # or create .env.local with VITE_BACKEND_URL=http://localhost:3000
npm install
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:5173 for the frontend and http://localhost:3000 for the backend API.

Deployment

See DEPLOYMENT.md for step-by-step instructions for Vercel (frontend) and Render (backend).

Notes

• Environment variables must be set at build time for Vite (VITE_BACKEND_URL).
• Keep .env out of source control and set production secrets in your host's secret manager.

If you want, I can add CI/CD GitHub Actions for automatic deploys on push to main.

Future improvements

• Add end to end encryption for messages.

Built with ❤️ by Navaneedan